The roast date is more important than the expiration date – coffee beans taste best if they’re used within 6 weeks of roasting. If the bag doesn’t say when the coffee was roasted, shop elsewhere.
Store coffee beans in an airtight container, with minimum air, in the dark. Mason jars work great, and you can migrate the beans to smaller jars as it runs out. Room temperature is fine.
Grind your own coffee right before brewing – fresh ground grounds just taste better, and ground coffee starts to lose flavour after only a few days.
Burr grinders give more consistent results than blade grinders, and can be adjusted for different kinds of brew.
If you prefer drip coffee, be sure to rinse your paper filters before you start to avoid that “papery” flavour.
A good cup of coffee starts with two ingredients – coffee and water. The water you use matters, avoid distilled or overly hard water.
Cold-brewed coffee is easy to make and doesn’t heat the house up in summer.
When you’re done with them, coffee grounds are great as a plant fertilizer.
